It’s the TV equivalent of beans on toast. Because, much like everyone’s favourite easy meal, you know what you’re getting when you stick one of these shows on. Something comforting, simple, and enjoyable. Something irresistibly gentle. Something non-challenging. And something that, above all else, reminds you of simpler times.

Considering everything that’s happened, it’s no wonder that so many of us are steering clear of hard-hitting dramas and thrillers in favour of something softer and sweeter. Especially now, as we slowly continue our release from lockdown and attempt to navigate the pandemic-altered world. Because, as we’ve said before, these shows are set in towns where the storefronts are impossibly pretty, the houses are luxuriously large, the parks well-manicured, the trees lushly leafy. Everyone knows each other. There is no coronavirus to watch out for, there is no dramatic soundtrack to make you feel uncomfortable. When people have too much to drink, they have perfectly ordinary hangovers. When friends argue, they reconcile within a few scenes. And, when a character is upset, it is usually because someone phrased something in a clumsy manner.

Indeed, all emotional upheaval is often forgotten by the time the credits roll.

New on Netflix: this summer’s big TV trend says a lot about our current mood